The Gift of Giving
by tesstesstessa
Summary: Sirius rolled his eyes. It was one thing to deal with James sighing and bemoaning his unrequited love, but Lily too? How much did the universe expect one bloke to handle? James/Lily one-shot.


**Disclaimer:** JK Rowling owns everything. Cover art by burdge on tumblr.

**A/N:** Yes, I know, I write a lot of these. But I put this up on tumblr and then decided I liked it, so here it is!

* * *

"Sirius!" a voice hissed, one that he recognised immediately. Grinning, he turned around. In all honesty, he wasn't even surprised she was in their dorm. Whatever Lily Evans was, she was a bloody determined bird.

"Evans. Are my services required?"

"Shut up, Black," she shot back, glaring up at him. He tilted his chin up just to emphasise their height difference, knowing how much it annoyed her. "I need to ask you something," she said, after glancing furtively around the empty dorm as if she expected the entire student body to jump out at her from behind a bed.

Sirius rolled his eyes. It was one thing to deal with James sighing and bemoaning his unrequited love, but Lily too? How much did the universe expect one bloke to handle? Ever since he'd confronted her about her glaringly obvious feelings for his best mate, she'd been coming to him for 'advice' - in short, to tell him in various ways how much of a git James was, and how much she liked it about him. "Did Prongs not smile at you throughout dinner today? Because that's only because I told him he looks positively loony-"

Lily's scowl deepened. "_No_. I can't decide what to give him for Christmas!"

Sirius burst into laughter at her despairing expression. "Tragic," he choked out, patting her on the back.

"It is _not_ funny! This is a serious matter!"

"Is that why you came to me?"

"Oh, ha ha, Sirius, how original. Where _is_ James, by the way?"

Sirius waved his hand in the vague direction of the bathroom. "Shower. Don't worry, he'll take really long, he's too busy-" Seeing Lily's dark expression, he abruptly cut himself off. Fighting back a smile, he said, "So you want to get him a present, then?"

Lily nodded vigorously. "I should, right?"

Sirius grinned. Though it had its downsides, playing relationships advisor was nothing if not entertaining. "Absolutely."

"Okay. Good. What do you suggest?"

"Oh, I dunno - maybe tell him you fancy him?"

_"Keep your voice down!"_ Lily hissed.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "He's blind if he hasn't noticed already."

"Yes, yes, and you're the wise man among us fools. I can't tell him I fancy him!"

"And why not?" Sirius asked, looking the redhead right in the eye.

She faltered. "Because - because… I can't tell James I fancy him because…" She trailed off. "Because he-"

"Because you're afraid," Sirius said knowingly. For once, he wasn't trying to mock her.

"I am _not_," she snapped, frown back in place.

"Oh, yeah? Then tell him. As soon as he comes out."

"Yeah, I'll do that," said Lily defiantly. "You wait and see - the moment I see him, I'll say - I'll say… James Potter, you bloody prat, I fancy you, and - and I'll - oh, fuck it, I'll hex you if you say you don't!"

Sirius grinned. "That's the way, Evans." But he was looking over her shoulder. James was standing behind her, holding a towel to his wet hair, glasses in his free hand. His mouth was hanging wide open.

"What're you looking at?" Lily demanded. "Why - oh, _Merlin_." She paled, her eyes going wide. "Is he behind me?" she whispered, and it was all Sirius could do to stop himself from laughing again. They looked like something out of one of those Muggle soap operas he'd watched once with James's mum. He nodded at her, smiling cheekily.

"You - you what?" James croaked, seeming to have found his voice.

"I - uh - never mind - I-" Lily glanced pleadingly at Sirius, who just leaned back on his hands and grinned.

"What did you just say?" asked James.

"I said - I fancy you! I fancy you, all right? Now go ahead, gloat, and laugh with your wanker of a best mate-" she glared at Sirius, who was visibly suppressing laughter "-about the irony of it all!"

"I - why would I do that?" James said, sounding thoroughly confused. "What irony?"

"I should've known this would happen! When you stopped fancying me, I started fancying you, all right?"

"Actually, she finally emerged from her pit of denial," Sirius cut in. Both Lily and James gave him death glares this time, so he contented himself to sitting back and enjoying the show.

"I never stopped fancying you, though," James said, still puzzled. "Why would you think that?"

"You stopped asking me out!"

"You told me to!"

"I was stupid!"

"Happens to the best of us," muttered Sirius, shaking his head.

"I turned you down. I humiliated you. Why do you even talk to me?" Lily sighed.

James laughed bitterly, his voice finally returning to normal. "I bullied your best mate. Every day of his life. Why do you even look at me?"

Lily flinched at the mention of Snape. Sirius raised his eyebrows. "You… changed," said Lily slowly. "I've come to realise that. I was wrong about a lot of things."

"Damn straight," said Sirius.

"Just, tell me you weren't joking," Lily continued as if he'd never spoken, "when you said you still fancy me."

"Of course not! I'd never joke about anything like that! I - I really like you, Lily. Really."

Sirius groaned, covering his face with a pillow. He thought he was going to be sick from the sweetness.

"Really?" Lily said. Sirius thought she sounded like a toddler who'd just been handed a handful of sweets. He shook his head woefully; the gesture was mostly lost on the other two, because of the pillow over his face.

"Really. And you-"

"Really," she interrupted.

"You don't have to get me a present," James said. Sirius could hear the smile in his voice. "This gift is more than anything I could've asked for."

He knew it was a rare moment, because James did not frequently talk about his innermost feelings. He could tell that Lily was beaming without even looking at her. He knew he had just witnessed something very, very special. So he exactly what one would expect him to do.

He pushed the pillow off himself, threw his hands up in the air, and strode out of the room. "Just shag already!" he called over his shoulder, rolling his eyes as he shut the door.


End file.
